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Wrestling diva carries country tunes

Try to imagine Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant or Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson singing an album of country music. It’s not exactly a sweet-sounding thought. Fortunately, if you’re looking for a wrestling star to sing you some tunes while you’re on the road, you have an option who can actually carry a tune.

WWE Divas/TNA Impact Knockouts champion wrestler Mickie James is now also an E1 recording artist. Her debut album for E1 Music, “Somebody’s Gonna Pay,” hit the streets on May 7. In April, her video “The Boot” could be seen on AOL and her first single from the album, also called “Somebody’s Gonna Pay,” was shipped off to country radio stations. At this point, you may have heard some of her music.

Born in 1979 in Richmond, Va., James has had a bit of a relationship with the trucking industry. Her stepfather “Big Wayne” – handle: “Blue Goose” — drove a logging truck for several years before moving on to his current job at Century Concrete. Not only that, James was also a waitress at the All-American Truck Stop in Doswell, Va., for about a year and a half.

“I was a struggling wrestler that couldn’t pay the bills, so I moved back home,” she says.

Mickie James’ debut record is available for download via iTunes and on CD via other retailers. Find full ordering information via her fan site.

For James, while wrestling has been a big part of her life the past 12 years, music is something she’s always been passionate about, and she’s got some talents in that area that might surprise people.

“I’ve played violin since I was five years old,” she says. “I grew up with music. I want to sing the music that I love. It’s the one thing that I had never really gone after.”

On the road for wrestling and her music now 100-150 days of the year, James still hopes to keep her music career going between her full-time wrestling responsibilities. But she doesn’t plan on giving up wrestling just to sing, either.

“I recognize that I can’t wrestle for the rest of my life,” she says. “I’m not ready to retire yet. Hopefully, even if the music does take off, wrestling will always be a part of my life, whether it’s a special appearance or something else.”

And her time in the ring has been paying off. James recently won the TNA Impact Knockouts Championship, making her the only female wrestler to be a champion nine times over, as well as the only person to ever hold the WWE Women’s, WWE Divas and TNA Knockout Championships.

But if it’s her music you’re hoping for more of, she plans on having more albums out soon, in addition to her newest album and her original, independent album “Strangers & Angels,” available on iTunes.

“We just finished ‘Somebody’s Gonna Pay’ in October” of 2012, James says. “I hope to have another album by the end of the year, maybe early next year. I want to see how this album does and in that time keep learning as an artist.”